"Westlake, Donald E as Stark, Richard - Parker 01 - The Hunter (Point Blank) 1.2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Westlake Donald E)

"I'm going to drink his blood," he said. "I'm going to chew up his heart and spit it into the gutter for the dogs to raise a leg at. I'm going to peel the skin off him and rip out his veins and hang him with them." He sat in the chair, his fists clenching and unclenching, his eyes glaring at her. He snatched up the coffee cup and hurled it. It caromed off the refrigerator and shattered on the edge of the sink, then sprayed onto the floor.

She stared at him, mouth moving, but no sound coming out.

He looked at her, and his eyes hardened again to onyx. One side of his mouth grinned, and he said, "To you? You mean to you? What am I going to do to you?"

She didn't move.

"I don't know yet," he said. His voice was high and hard, like it tightrope walker out on the rope, knowing his balance was never better. High and hard and sharp. "It depend on you. Where's Mal?"

"Oh, Jesus," she whispered.

"It depends on you," he said again.

She shook her head. "I don't know, Parker. I swear on the Cross. I haven't seen him for three months. I don't even know if he's in New York."

"How do you get your payoff?"

"Messenger," she said. "The first of every month. He brings me an envelope, with cash in it."

"How much cash?"

"A thousand."

He smacked the table with stiff fingers. "Twelve grand a year. Tax free. The setup pays well, Lynn. The Judas ewe." He laughed harshly, like a knife slashing through canvas. "The Judas ewe," he repeated. "Wiggling her tail down the chute."

"I was afraid! They would have killed me, Parker. They would have hurt me and then they would have killed me."

"Yeah. Who is this messenger?"

"It's a different one each time. I don't know any of them."

"Sure," he said. "Mal don't trust you. Nobody trusts the Judas ewe."

"I didn't want to, Parker, I swear before all the saints! You were the only man I ever wanted. The only man I ever needed. But I had to."

"You'd do it again," he said.

She shook her head. "Not this time -- not now. I couldn't go through this again."

"You're afraid to die," he said. He held his hands out and flexed them, looking at her throat.

She shrank away. "Yes. Yes, I'm afraid. I'm afraid to live, too. I couldn't go through it all over again."

"The first of the month," he said, "you'll open your mouth to the messenger. You'll say, 'Tell Mal to look out. Tell him Parker's in town.'"

She shook her head violently. "I've got no reason," she said desperately. "I'm going down to the core now, Parker. I'm telling you the bottom truth. If I had to, I would. I'd do it all over again, everything, if I had to. But I don't have to. Nobody knows you're here. Nobody knows you're alive. Nobody's threatening me, making me turn you up."

"Maybe you'll play it safe and volunteer," he said.